Oneida, with Ume and the Jonx

Friday, August 12, at Rudyard's, 2010 Waugh Drive, 713-521-0521.

When you think of Brooklyn's indie rock scene right now, you conjure an image of a hipster groupie gangbang set to a swirling miasma of upchucked Wire, XTC and Gang of Four homages. Oneida, a far more eclectic-sounding bunch, stands apart from the whole we're-more-angular-and/or-punk/funk-than-thou fest. The group's spaced-out jams, tense guitar riffs and fuzzy organ solos have garnered comparisons to bands as diverse as Can, the Stooges and even Spacemen 3. And thick string arrangements and a pair of folky numbers ("Run Through My Hair" and "August Morning Haze") make their latest, The Wedding, their most melancholic release to date. Still, Oneida's trademark moments of madness remain -- especially the seven-minute "The Beginning Is Nigh," whose toke factor is on par with Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf."